Summary:

For his whole life, Cloud has been in the Guild. Sure, he had made a few mistakes, but forgive and forget, right? Apparently not. His part in Soul's murder haunts him constantly, and although he tries, he can't stop thinking about it. At least he knows what to expect later in life. He would become the best guard ever, and make up for what had happened.

Well, that was the plan. Little did he know, his sheltered life would soon come to an end, making way for a new beginning. Everything he had known to be true would be thrown into question, eventually to the point where he would begin to wonder if he was a real cat.

Author's Note: After InkAngyl pointed out that it reminded her (?) of the Warriors series, I decided to add this little section about how this story started. Feel free to skip over this if you don't feel like reading it, but in case you're interested... When I first wrote this (two years ago) it was going to be a Warriors fanfiction. Essentially, Cloud was in the Tribe, then he left and joined a Clan as Stormcloud. That was the whole plot. Obviously, I had to rethink it a bit. As I wrote it, it ended up straying so far from the series that it really wasn't a fanfiction. So instead I made it its own story and put it here. Now, before you start thinking "Oh, it's just one of those stories that's actually a fanfiction but minus all the copyrighted stuff," let me tell you simply: it isn't. It has practically nothing to do with the series, especially later in the story.

But enough of my rambling. Enjoy ;).

This Memory

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A warm summer breeze stirred the leaves, causing them to make a light whooshing sound. That was good, because Cloud needed all the help he could get when it came to hunting. It was stupid, since guards didn't hunt; hunters hunted, hence their name. But nooo, Cloud was a novice, and novices had to learn to do both. But it was obvious to the whole Guild that Cloud would become a guard.

And yet here he was, crouching behind a bush watching a mouse scuffle through the grass in search of whatever mice looked for. Cloud honestly didn't care, but he had to catch it. A faster cat could have dashed out and killed it quickly, but Cloud knew it was just barely out of his reach. His claws slid in and out impatiently. At this rate, he would be there forever.

The gray novice found his attention drifting, his light blue eyes dulling as he stared off into the distance. His daydreams were random and pointless, and later he wouldn't remember them. Except for one. A silver tabby lay in a mangled heap before him, her fur matted with blood. Her side heaved and more blood poured out of her. “Ghost,” she whispered, then shuddered and gave her last sigh.

Cloud barely stopped himself from crying out. He shook his head to clear it; why couldn't that memory just leave him alone? Some things were best forgotten. Cloud found that he was trembling, and forced himself to focus on the mouse again. It had inched a bit closer to him. Stupid thing. He would be able to get it now. His curved claws slid out silently and scraped the ground. The mouse heard and looked up, but it was too late. Cloud had already flung himself at it and launched it skyward with a swipe of his paw; a swift bite to its neck was all it took to finish the job.

“Good job,” a husky voice said from behind him. Cloud turned around quickly, the mouse still danging from his jaws, even though he recognized the voice. It was his mentor, Stone the Hardy. He was a large gray tom with a dull, thick pelt. He had a certain intimidating burliness about him; nobody wanted to pick a fight with him, which was one of the reasons he was the head guard. But once you got to know him, as most of the Guild did, he was a nice guy. “You could have gone for it sooner though.”

“I'll do that next time,” Cloud promised, putting down his mouse. He didn't want to say the real reason he had paused for so long; nobody, aside from himself and Ghost, knew about his involvement in Soul's murder. Hopefully it would stay that way, and both he and Ghost would be able to move on with their lives, but Cloud couldn't seem to get it out of his head. He wondered if Ghost still thought about it, but didn't want to bring it up to him.

Stone nodded towards the mouse. “I'll take that back for you. You can do what you like for the rest of the day.” The large tom picked up the prey with surprising gentleness and padded off towards the camp. Cloud nodded respectfully and sat down, wondering what to do next. It was strange for Stone to let him go so quickly; usually he was kept training from the very beginning of the day to the very end. The sun had just passed the middle of the sky. Had Stone given up on training Cloud? Or maybe he was just tired. Or Cloud was getting close to the end of his training. Cloud's whiskers twitched with excitement at that thought.

“Hey Cloud,” a friendly voice greeted him. Cloud turned and saw Ash the Bright, who had recently gotten his full name and position as a guard.

“If it isn't Ash the Bright,” Cloud replied with cheerful sarcasm, flicking his tail. “How are you enjoying sleeping in?” Once a cat became a soldier, he or she no longer had to get up early like novices did. Of course, Cloud knew that soldiers usually didn't like to sleep in anyways, but it was fun to tease Ash.

“I didn't sleep in,” Ash replied, his whiskers twitching irritably. “I would say you don't need to call me Ash the Bright, but a bit of respect for your elders would do you good.”

Cloud nearly choked with laughter, but he managed to hold it back at least a bit. “Me... respect you!” he gasped. Ash wasn't that much older than Cloud was, and he knew Ash well, so he didn't have to address him using his full name. He rarely spoke to anyone using their full name; that was reserved for Blaze the Valiant and Shade the Gentle, the leader and shaman of the Guild.

Ash sighed exasperatedly. “You're hopeless,” he said, then made to leave, but Cloud was blocking his way.

“Hey wait,” he did his best to put on a sad face. “I'm sorry. I really shouldn't pick on you.”

“Pssh,” Ash answered, cuffing Cloud lightly on the ear. “You actually think I care what you say?” He sounded annoyed, but his eyes were glowing, so Cloud knew that he wasn't angry at him.

“So, what do you do now that you don't have to train?”

“You know, stuff,” he said vaguely. “There's always something back at camp. You could go there if you're bored.”

Cloud nodded thoughtfully. Yes, he would go back to camp and see what there was to do. But first he had a question for Ash. “So, Ash, how's Lily?” He tried to ask the question casually, but he could feel his heart beating faster at the thought of the pretty tortoiseshell. She was Ash's sister, and only a bit younger than Cloud was.

“She's fine,” Ash answered, looking at Cloud with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “She's probably out hunting.”

“Oh, okay, thanks,” Cloud said quickly, feeling awkward. “Well, I'd better, uh, get back to camp.” He trotted off quickly, but was sure he saw a small smile appear on Ash's face as he turned away.

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